Rosemary And Thyme
Episode #8 – Exodus
Scene 1a
Gabriel
Welcome back. You’re probably wondering why I’m dressed in this ridiculously expensive suit and tie. Well, I’m only Gabriel now. This is what I wear when I’m meetin’ with the humans. I’m only Gabriel now because … Gabe’s dead. Unmercifully stoned by a deranged crowd led by a Bishop of the so-called church who is now up for manslaughter charges. A double murder, actually. Mama’s death certainly quieted the crowd, but Bishop Goodspeed masterfully shifted the blame away from the man in the crowd who threw the bottle and blamed it on me … for duckin’! … well, blamed it on Gabe, actually.
Gabe … Good ol’ Gabe … Ya’ know, I’ll miss the guy. I really enjoyed playing him. I don’t get to play those kinds a’ parts very often … always the good guy, the guardian Angel. Aw, it was only ever a disguise anyway. So all they did was to kill a disguise.
So … Lizzie, tryin’ to get Thyme an’ Josiah out the back door and, knowing the demeanor of the crowd, by the time she turned around, Mama was gone out the front door.. Lizzie ran out after her, but by then she was just too late. The worst was happenin’ before her very eyes. She saw there was nothing she could do, so she ran back into the empty church. It was then she had the idea …
Scene 1b
Lizzie
I’m goin’ too! I’m gettin’ the hell outta here! Josiah! Wait for me!
Gabriel
So they got away … Thyme, Josiah, Lizzie … and the unborn child. Destitute, penniless an’ on the run, the three of them had no time to take anything except what was on their person. Headed off into the woods an’ across the valley to State Highway 18.
On foot, the three of them … now runnin’ for their lives. Well, they got to the highway around 10:30 in the pitch black with thoughts of hitchin’ a ride as far away from Skedee as they could get. Now population 134, by the way.
(Down five from 139.) Three escaped; two dead.
Deathly afraid of being followed, it was Lizzie who came up with the idea.
Lizzie
Hey, let’s head for the city. Oklahoma City! I always wanted to go there. Nobody will ever find us with all them people.
Gabriel
At first, nobody would pick them up – too many people an’ not many cars go by at 10:30 at night around there. Finally, scared an’ frustrated, Josiah hides in the bushes puttin’ the two ladies out on the side of the road with their thumbs out and their smiles a’ beckonin’. A trucker immediately stops to pick ‘em up when he sees ‘em. Josiah pops outta the bushes to join ‘em.
Scene 2
Trucker
Well, hold on now! I can’t be takin’ all three a’ ya’. Just the ladies!
Josiah
Oh please kind sir, can’t ya’ see? We’s elopin’!
Trucker
Good Lord man, all three of ya’?
Josiah
That’s right! An’ I’m a minister.
Trucker
Well, I never …
Thyme
Oh Darlin’, you don’t have ta’ lie ta’ the man. Jus’ tell ‘im the truth.
Josiah
What? That we jus’ got rode outta town on a rail?
Trucker
You did what?!
Lizzie
Well, they was comin’ with the dang thing, torches an’ all, but we got away jus’ in time.
Trucker
Well, what about the weddin’?
Thyme
Oh there weren’t no weddin’. We’s already married!
Trucker
All three a’ ya’?
Lizzie
No, I ain’t married. Jus’ them two.
Trucker
You folks gotta git yer story together. All this lyin’ jus’ ain’t right! Whadja do, rob a bank?
Lizzie
Now if we robbed a friggin’ bank we wouldn’t need ta’ be hitchhikin’, would we?
Trucker
No, I ‘spose not. Hey, you folks mus’ be from Skedee. That’s a whole town full a’ wackos.
Josiah
Well, you’re right ‘bout that.
Trucker
I do this route four times a week an’ every time I drive past your dumbass sheriff’s so called speed trap, he’s sound asleep in his car. I could be doin’ ninety an’ he’dah never know’d it.
Josiah
So where ya’ headin’?
Trucker
Oklahoma City!
Josiah
Well look, ma’ friend, we ain’t done nothin’ illegal. Ma’ wife here’s pregnant an’ let’s jus’ say the folks in town were jus’ jealous a’ her havin’ this particular baby.
Trucker
Oh I get it. It ain’t yours, huh? An’ you’re bein’ a preacher an’ all.
Josiah
Yeah, well that’s sorta it, but not entirely …
Trucker
Yeah, that’s tough on ya’, bro. Honey, ya’ gotta keep yer pants on. Yer married now! This poor man …
Thyme
Now wait jus’ a minute here. Ya’ don’t be jumpin’ ta’ no conclusions. You have no idea …
Lizzie
Hold on ever’body. This conversation is goin’ south. I think we all need ta’ take a deep breath an’ cool out.
Thyme
Probably a good idea …
Trucker
OK, I said ma’ piece.
Josiah
Thyme … Lizzie, we jus’ learned a good lesson here. From now on, mum’s the word ‘bout Skedee, Bishop Goodspeed, Angels, God’s child an’ everything related to whoever we meet. Nobody gonna ever understand what’s come over us. Mum’s the word.
Thyme and Lizzie
Mum’s the word.
Trucker
Far out! This here’s getting’ more ‘n more interestin’ by the minute …
Gabriel
(one liner)
Begrudgingly, but fascinated, our friend the trucker takes ‘em down on to I-44 … and on to Oklahoma City.
(Time passes … scene change music – banjo travelin’ music)
Scene 3
Oklahoma City
Thyme
Oklahoma City! Lordy, jus’ look at the size a them buildings. I don’t know why anyone would wanna live way up there.
Josiah
Closer to God, Thyme, closer to God.
Thyme
Well I don’t be needin’ to go up, to talk to God, I jus’ need to start talkin’ an’ He’s right there.
Josiah
Well next time you do, I’d like to join ya’. I sure would like to get to know him better, ‘specially now that I’m gonna be the father to his son.
Lizzie
Now that don’t make no sense, Josiah. How can you be the father to his son? You two is jus’ talkin’ crazy again.
Thyme
What’s crazy to you, Lizzie, is very real to us, an’ ya’ better git used to it. If you’re gonna hang out with us, you best figure a way to git on board.
Lizzie,
Now you know I go to church an’ all, but you two are takin’ this whole thing a little too far, doncha think? I mean really … Look where this has gotten us … broke, hungry an’ on the run. An’ runnin’ to where? We don’t even know!
Josiah
Well, ‘least you got your wish. You got the Hell out of Skedee. So now what? You got a plan?
Lizzie
I got no idea. But I know I ain’t goin’ back there.
Thyme
That’s jus’ what we need, Josiah. We need a plan. We gotta go somewhere where I can have this baby — where there will be the kind of people that will understand.
Lizzie
Well all that’s well an’ good, but first off we gotta get somethin’ to eat. We haven’t had a real meal in two days.
Josiah
She’s right, Thyme. Our immediate needs are now the real problem here. We gotta eat an’ we gotta find a place to sleep, an’ I only got about $497 an’ 63 cents left on this credit card. When it’s gone, that’s it.
Lizzie
You’re right ‘bout that! I’m broke. I left my friggin’ purse on the altar, hell bent on gittin’ ma’ butt outta town.
Thyme
All I got is Mama’s lucky fifty cent piece.
Josiah
We’re gonna need it.
Lizzie
So what’s the plan, preacher man?
Josiah
Hmmm …
Thyme
Hmmm … yeah …
Lizzie
Hmmm is right … hmmm …
(A long pause while everyone considers, but nobody comes up with anything … … … finally …)
Thyme
OK, so we ain’t gotta plan. I know jus’ who to turn to ‘bout this. Y’all stay right here. I’ll be back in a flash.
Scene 4
(We hear the hustle and bustle of the city, the traffic, the people, the chatter in the background. Musical set up.)
God
Hello Thyme.
Thyme
Hello God. I was wonderin’ if you was watchin’ … We’re kinda stuck here.
God
I know.
Thyme
I know you know. I know you know all there is to know.
God
Yup.
Thyme
I’m reachin’ out to ya’ for help now cuz I don’t know where to turn.
God
Makes sense.
Thyme
I’m gonna take care of this baby for you if it’s the last thing I ever do. That’s a promise.
God
I know. That’s why I picked you. Commitment.
Thyme
But we gotta eat. An’ we need a roof over our heads.
God
And you’ve still got a long way to travel.
Thyme
We do?
God
Yup.
Thyme
Why’s that?
God
Because it is predestined.
Thyme
I thought you could do anything. You can’t change that?
God
Nope.
Thyme
Why?
God
Because I made it so. It’s not for you to question. It’s a hard road ahead, Thyme. But you can do it. It’ll make you strong … even stronger. Enable you to handle what’s coming. Trust in the Lord … with all thine heart. I will show you the way.
Thyme
Yes, God. I will.
God
I know. That’s why I picked you. You have wings on your soul.
Thyme
I do?
God
Yup.
Thyme
What’s that mean?
God
That’s for you to find out.
Thyme
Oh Lordy, always mysterious …
God
That’s right. Mysterious is my middle name.
Thyme
(A bit too smartass)
Well then, if that’s so, what’s yer last name?
(No answer— pregnant pause)
Thyme
OK … OK … OK … I’m sorry. So what I do next?
(A moment of contemplative silence …)
God? God …? Where’d ya’ go?
Thyme
Well God, … are you still there? God? God …?
God, wait. I ain’t done. I wanted to ask ya’ ‘bout Mama. God …?
I jus’ wanted to know if she was all right. I know she’s with you … Lizzie told me …
(sigh)
(she gives up. He’s gone.)
Scene 5
(The sounds of the city come up again around her.)
Lizzie
So what he say?
Thyme
He said we got a long hard road ahead of us.
Lizzie
That’s it?
Thyme
That’s about it.
Lizzie
Oh brother …
Josiah
You mean he wasn’t able to help?
Thyme
He said he would show us the way.
Lizzie
Oh yeah? And which way is that?
Thyme
I donno, Lizzie. But I do know that Skedee’s thataway, so we gotta go thisaway.
Josiah
OK, so let’s get travelin’.
(We hear the sounds of the city streets come up again. The three of them walk on down the street and Josiah stops at a window of a travel bureau.)
Josiah
Hey, lookee here. A travel bureau. Maybe they can show us where ta’ go. Well rats, it’s closed, but look at this here picture in the window. Hey y’all, howdja’ like to go there?
Lizzie
Wow, Jamaica!
Thyme
You gotta be jokin’. We ain’t even got enough money to get to the airport!
Josiah
But look at that blinkin’ neon sign.
(He reads.) “ See the Great Southwest — Oklahoma to California.” Why, It’s a sign from God.
Lizzie
Oh, good lord, Josiah! Are you nuts? Don’t tell me …
Josiah
(interrupts)
I’m tellin’ ya’ it’s a sign from God! Doncha see?
Thyme
You think so?
Josiah
Yes, Darlin’, I believe that God is now speakin’ to me too!
Lizzie
Unbelievable! There is no way I’m gonna follow the both of you clear ‘cross country based on this ridiculous moment in time. Y’all’s both slipped a digit. I can’t believe this!
(Pause) Hey now where you goin’? You jus’ gonna walk away from me jus’ like that? On a whim an’ a prayer? Hey, I’m talkin to you! Where you goin’?
Thyme
California, here we come …
Lizzie
Oh my god … oh my god …. oh my god …
(she yells after them) Well as long as we now have a plan, doncha think we oughta take one of these here brochures?! Ooooooh … All right, all right, wait for me …
Scene 6
One Step At A Time
Josiah
(sings)
Oklahoma City
Is a long way from Skedee
An’ Shamrock Texas
Seems a million miles away
But with the grace of God
An’ the will to carry on
We’ll make it
We’ll make it
Cuz we’ll take it
One step at a time
Then on from Shamrock to Groom
Amarillo to Vega
This Texas road seems endless
Like from alpha to omega
As we hitchhike this ol’ highway 66
Yeah we’ll make it
We’ll make it
Cuz we’ll take it
One step at a time
Ridin’ in the back of a pickup truck
With the wind about to drive us insane
So hot gotta be a hundred degrees
An’ we all three prayin’ fer rain
So ladies takin’ turns at sittin’ in the front seat
While I’m watchin’ through the window
Makin’ sure the driver man
Keeps his mind on the road
An’ his hands on the steerin’ wheel
Makin’ damn sure
He don’t try ta’ cop a feel
Guess I don’t hafta worry none
‘Bout Miss Lizzie
One false step an’ he’d git
A taste a’ her fist
An’ a smack upside a’ his head
But it’s Thyme that gets me worried
Cuz she’s so dern pretty an’ so dern friendly
He might could git the wrong idea
So I keep ma’ eyes pealed
From the back a’ this ol’ pickup truck
Watchin’ his every move
Yeah it behooves me ta’ be
The guardian paladin
Takin’ on the role of my life
Puttin’ all my ambition aside fer a time
An’ jus’ protecting ma’ child an’ ma’ wife
Takin’ it
One step at a time
One roll of the wheel
Day after day
One podunk Texas town after ‘nother
Losin’ our rides
Cuz the Ladies got to stop
Seems like every hundred miles
Fillin’ up on junk food
An’ jus’ tryin’ to save a dime
Butt so sore from bouncin’ on the floor
But bound an’ determined
To makin’ it all the way to Santa Fe
An’ on to Califor-ni-a
Yeah we’ll make it
We’ll make it
Cuz we’ll take it
One step at a time
Takin’ it
One step at a time
One roll of the wheel
Day after day
One podunk little town after ‘nother
Yeah we’ll make it
We’ll make it
Cuz we’ll take it
One step at a time
Scene 7
Dr. Alfredo Encarnacion
I had a dream. In it, I stood weeping in a desert that must have once been my Bolivia. The jungles, my beloved jungles, had long disappeared. The desert stretched out around me as far as the eye could see. And yet I asked myself, “Why are you weeping, Alfredo? The answer is here. Here in the desert.” You see, somehow I knew the answer in my dream. But then I awoke to find that I had no answer. I still have no answer.
Scene 8a
Now near Elk City OK. We hear the sound of the truck, the bouncing and rattling of people and things. Music underscores. Then we hear the wind begin to blow and rise in its velocity. Thyme has somehow been sleeping in the back of the pickup truck with Lizzie riding shotgun. The noise wakes Thyme up.
Thyme
Oooohh, hmmm, what’s goin’ on. Wow, I really slept. Ooh, I had another dream about Mama. She was sittin’ right there in the back ‘a the truck with us … singin’ that same ol’ song. Only this time she could carry a tune with it. I was so happy for her. Oh Lordy, sleepin’ at these bus stops an’ in the back a’ these trucks is makin’ me sore all over. I can’t believe I slept so hard through all this racket.
Josiah
Yeah, you really needed it. I’m glad you slept. Feels like a storm is comin’. Might finally get some rain.
Thyme
What time is it? It’s gettin’ dark already? I musta really slept.
Josiah
No it’s only 2:00 in the afternoon. I think we’re drivin’ into a big one.
Gabriel
(one liner)
Suddenly, from inside the cab, Lizzie is a’knockin’ on the cab back window.
(The wind rises in its decibels.)
Lizzie
(yelling through all the noise)
Look, look, up ahead. Look at the sky! Oh my god … look!
(We hear the truck slow down as the driver pulls on to the siding and stops.)
Truck Driver
I ain’t drivin through that! I’m goin back!
Josiah
Goin’ back?! No, we can’t …
Truck Driver
Yeah, goin’ back. Either come with me or git out!
Thyme
Oh no, … we can’t go back! We got nowhere to go. Josiah, we can’t go back.
(We hear the truck door slam as Lizzie gets out of the cab and comes back to the flatbed.)
Lizzie
That don’t look so good up ahead. But I don’t wanna go back neither. Get out. We can make it to that farmhouse down the road.
Josiah
OK, it’s worth takin’ a chance. Maybe we can hide out in the barn til the storm’s over.
Truck Driver
Good luck, people. God be with ya’! I’m hightailin’ it outta here. Arriva derchy …
(We hear the truck turn and drive off as the wind gets louder.)
Scene 8b
Lizzie
I hope we made the right decision here. Whoa … it shore is gettin’ dark!
Josiah
C’mon now, we better git goin’ !
Thyme
I’m comin’. I’m comin’ … Hey not so fast … remember there’s two a me here. I can’t be runnin’ with this baby in my belly.
(The wind begins to howl. We hear them running through the gravel at the side of the road.)
Lizzie
C’mon girl! You can do it!
Thyme
Oh, I’m sorry. I can’t keep up. You two run on ahead.
Josiah
No way, Darlin’. I’m stayin’ with you if I have ta’ carry ya’! Lizzie, you run on ahead an’ see if you can find us some cover. We’ll be right behind ya’.
(Now the wind is fierce and the sound is dangerous.)
Lizzie
No, I’m stayin’ with you! This is gettin’ too crazy!
Josiah
What? I can’t hear ya’ … Thyme, stay close! Aaaagh, I got all that dust in my eyes … Thyme, I can’t see ya’. Hold on to ma’ shirt! Lizzie, Lizzie!! Thyme where’s Lizzie?
(He yells.) Lizzie! We gotta git up ta’ thar barn!!
Thyme
I’m right here, Josiah. I can’t see neither. Lizzie!!
Lizzie
(Heard at some distance through the howling wind)
I’m scared, Josiah … this looks really bad! Where are you? Thyme!!!
Josiah
(yells)
Over here, Lizzie. We gotta get to that barn! Lizzie!!! Over here!
(No answer)
(A terrible roar is now added to the howling wind)
Scene 8c
Josiah
C’mon now Darlin’. One step at a time. Gotta move …
Thyme
(yelling through the roar)
I don’t think I can make it … oh my God, do you see that. Oh honey, it’s a twister! Oh no … We’ll never make it. It’s comin’ our way.
(Now we hear the crashing of trees, the holocaust of a raging tornado.)
Josiah
C’mon Thyme, get on my back. Hold on … grab ‘round my neck. That’s it. Don’t look back! God be with us now!
(In the chaos of the storm we hear the labored sound of running, but labored footsteps through the howl of the wind and the crashing and the music.)
Thyme
(yelling, still on his back, running)
Look! Down there in that gully. That old bus. Layin’ on its side. See …?
Josiah
(out of breath)
OK … OK … hang on baby … aaaagggg!
(And the sounds of the tornado upon them completely overwhelm the moment … and continue on,)
Scene 9
Christine
Lizzie
And suddenly, by the grace of God, there it was — a ramshackle remnant of a house, fightin’ for its life against the fury a’ the storm. A screen door bangin’ away was calling out ta’ me. All I could think was, “ta’ hell with the barn. I jus’ gotta make it to that house.” The air was full of trash an’ junk an’ things that should not be flyin’ around …
Well I did not know a chicken could fly
But as I stood upon the porch
And turned
I watched as she was lifted off the ground
And swept across the yard on her way to the sky
And as she passed she looked me in the eye
As if to say,
“Well, I have wings, don’t I?”
Well I did not know a goat could fly
Or a mailbox from down the road
Spewing all its packages around
Meant for Mr. Morgan Abernathy
Elk Creek Road, Oklahoma
Who lived in the house on the hill
With the porch I stood upon
An’ hollered “Please open the door
To no avail
I did not know that cows could fly
I did not know a roof could fly
Nor did I know that I could fly
Until she took me in her arms
And whispered,
“It was you I wanted
Ooooh all along.”
Hurricanes have names
But tornadoes are much too many
To remember
Unless, of course, you’re in it.
Unless, of course, her name …
Was Christine
Christine
Christine she comes
Christine she comes
Christine she comes
She beckons me
She longs to have her way with me
She sweeps me up
I’m impotent
Like falling from tall buildings in a dream
Christine she comes
I have no say
She means to carry me away
A lover’s smile
Without a heart
She’ll scream and tear my world apart
To satisfy her hunger
Christine
Christine she comes
She howls. She moans.
With yellow winds
And shrieking bones
She satiates her every need
And still she comes
She comes,
Christine
And there she stands
And there she flies
And there she screams
And there she cries
She tears her hair
And rolls her eyes
And rips the heavens from the skies
And still she comes
Christine
She rages on
A ravenous queen
She swallows me
Christine Christine
I’m falling through her tempest
In a dream
Christine
Christine
I have no perception of where I’m bound
But only long to have my feet back on the ground
And oh the sound
The song she sings
As she carries me across the night
In the throes of in her mad delight
Christine
Christine
Christine
Christine
Christine
Christine
